Item 405 of Regulation S-B contained in this
form, and no disclosure will be contained, to the best of registrant's
knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by
reference in Part III of this Form 10-KSB or any amendment to this Form
10-KSB. x
Indicate
by check mark whether the
registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange
Act). Yes o
No
x
The
issuer’s revenues for the fiscal
year ended October 31, 2007 were $17,326,035.
The
aggregate market value of the voting
and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of
January 8, 2008 was
approximately $1,934,042, based
on the average bid and ask price
of a share of common stock as quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board of
$0.08.
As
of January 8, 2008, there were
65,149,522 shares
of registrant’s common stock
outstanding.
DOCUMENTS
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:
None
Transitional
Small Business Disclosure
Format (Check One): Yes o;
No
x
FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This
Annual Report on Form 10-KSB (this
"Report") includes "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking
statements are statements other than historical information or statements of
current condition. Some forward-looking statements may be identified
by the use of such terms as "expects,” "anticipates,” "estimates,” "believes,”
"plans" and words of similar meaning. These forward-looking
statements relate to business plans, programs, trends, results of future
operations, satisfaction of future cash requirements, funding of future growth,
acquisition plans, and other matters. In light of the risks and
uncertainties inherent in all such projected matters, the inclusion of
forward-looking statements in this Form 10-KSB should not be regarded as a
representation by us or any other person that our objectives or plans will
be
achieved or that our operating expectations will be
realized. Revenues and results of operations are difficult to
forecast and could differ materially from those projected in forward-looking
statements contained herein, including without limitation statements regarding
our belief of the sufficiency of capital resources and our ability to compete
in
the telecommunications industry. Actual results could differ from those
projected in any forward-looking statements for, among others, the following
reasons: (a) increased competition from existing and new competitors using
Voice
over Internet Protocol ("VoIP") to provide telecommunications services over
the
Internet, (b) the relatively low barriers to entry for start-up companies using
VoIP to provide telecommunications services over the Internet, (c) the
price-sensitive nature of consumer demand, (d) the relative lack of customer
loyalty to any particular provider of services over the Internet, (e) our
dependence upon favorable pricing from our suppliers to compete in the
telecommunications industry, (f) increased consolidation in the
telecommunications industry, which may result in larger competitors being able
to compete more effectively, (g) failure to attract or retain key employees,
(h)
continuing changes in governmental regulations affecting the telecommunications
industry and the Internet and (i) changing consumer demand, technological
developments and industry standards that characterize the industry. For a
discussion of these factors and others, please see "Risk Factors" in Item 1
of
this Report. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements made in this Report or in any document or statement
referring to this Report. In addition, we are not obligated, and do
not intend, to update any forward-looking statements at any time unless an
update is required by applicable securities laws.
PART
I
Item
1. Description of
Business.
General
Throughout
this Annual Report on Form
10-KSB, the terms "we,"
"Rapid Link," and the "Company" refer
to Rapid Link, Incorporated, a Delaware corporation,
and its
subsidiaries. The Company was incorporated on July 10, 1986 under the
Company Act of the Province
of
British
Columbia, Canada. On
August 7, 1992, we
renounced our original province of incorporation and elected to continue our
domicile under the laws of the State of Wyoming,
and on November 30, 1994, our name was
changed to "Canmax Inc.” On February 1, 1999, we reincorporated under
the laws of the State of Delaware under
the name "ARDIS Telecom &
Technologies, Inc.” On November 2, 1999, we acquired substantially
all of the business and assets of Dial Thru International Corporation, a
California corporation (the "DTI Acquisition"), and, on January 19, 2000, we
changed our name from ARDIS Telecom & Technologies, Inc. to Dial Thru
International Corporation. On November 1, 2005, we changed our name
to "Rapid Link, Incorporated" as we believe this name will receive better market
recognition and acceptance than its previous name, especially as the Company
continues to roll out wireless broadband internet
relatedservices.
Our
principal executive offices are
located at 5408 N.
99thStreet,
Omaha,
Nebraska,
;
our telephone number is (310)
566-1700; our website address is www.rapidlink.com;
and our common stock currently trades
on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol RPID.
Business
Strategy
Communication
Services
Rapid
Link, Incorporated, a Delaware corporation,
and its subsidiaries
(collectively referred to as “Rapid Link” or the “Company”), have served as
facilities-based, communication companies providing various forms of voice
and
data services to customers around the world. Rapid Link provides a
multitude of communication services targeted to individual customers, as well
as
small and medium sized enterprises. These services include the
transmission of voice and data traffic over public and private
networks. The Company also sells foreign and domestic termination of
voice traffic into the wholesale market.
The
Company has shifted its retail
product focus to wireless broadband niche markets that include
specific
ethnic demographics, targeted
rural geographic locations, and others. The Company’s strategy
includes plans to offer broadband access via its own facilities to insure
reliable delivery of its current and future services. Technology now
allows for swift and cost efficient deployment of broadband
networks. Wi-MAX and other technologies can bring fast, reliable,
high-speed internet access to areas that have traditionally been inaccessible
or
underserved. Through organic growth and acquisitions in targeted
areas, the Company believes it will possess a strategic advantage over carriers
that do not provide their own network access. The Company believes
the potential for unfair and/or
monopolistic behavior by incumbent providers, necessitates our strategy
to “own” the customer by
providing the service directly, rather than utilizing the networks of
others. This will allow the Company to provide its bundled products
and communication services without the threat of compromised service
quality.
Development
of Wireless Broadband
Internet
The
tremendous growth of internet
utilization worldwide has led to dramatic changes in how individuals and
business consumers are able to access the internet. Regional
incumbents are generally offering broadband services over their legacy cable
or
telephone networks in most metropolitan areas of the United States. Wireless
internet service
providers (“WISP’s”) are becoming much more prevalent, largely due to advances
in technology and the demand for service in areas not adequately served by
the
incumbents. During fiscal year 2007, we began offering wireless
broadband internet services to customers located in the geographic area of
Amador County,
California.
Recent
advances in wireless Ethernet
equipment now make it possible to build carrier-grade networks with
significantly less capital investment than required in the past. As
recently as three years ago, a service which provided broadband speeds of
100Mbps or more to an end-user, would have been prohibitively
expensive. Today, even faster speeds are available to business
customers. With the increased bandwidth now available to our
customers, we are able to tailor our service offerings to suit the
end-users’ needs. Synchronous
connections (those with MATCHING upload and download speeds) are more important
now than ever, and new wireless technologies make this
possible. Integrated voice services utilizing VoIP are a perfect
example of the flexibility and performance synchronous connections
allow.
Niche
Focus- Broadband service in rural
and underserved areas
The
Company has recognized that many
areas within the United
States are lacking viable
options for broadband internet access. Generally, these are rural
locations, which have not yet seen market penetration by regional telephony
and
cable incumbents. With recent advances in wireless broadband
technologies, we feel that we can offer a cost effective service, bringing
high
quality broadband internet to these underserved areas.
Niche
Focus - Non-traditional broadband
service offerings
The
legacy services provided by
telecommunications
incumbents have very
specific limitations with regard to speeds, and are relatively
expensive. Cable
incumbents
are generally not offering
synchronous broadband speeds at all, thus limiting the scope of their products
and services. Wireless broadband technology enables the Company to
provide services outside the limits of traditional telecommunications and cable
based offerings. Additionally, wireless broadband services can be
easily and cost effectively upgraded to match the consumers changing
needs.
Products
and
Services
Our
goal is to provide the best possible
communication experience to both residential and business users at affordable
prices, allowing them to communicate seamlessly and effortlessly to and from
anywhere in the world.
Rapid
Link Wireless Broadband
Service
Rapid
Link provides Broadband Internet
access via its wireless network equipment and service staff in rural
Amador County,
California. This
service has been
available starting
October
31, 2007, and is a
service that has
been marketed to consumers in the
area for over 7 years by Communications Advantage, LLC, and Web-Breeze Networks,
LLC. Rapid Link acquired all the assets of Communications Advantage,
LLC, and Web-Breeze Networks, LLC in October 2007. The wireless
broadband network covers over 350 square miles and serves more than 1400 users
from 36 points of presence. Other assets include web hosting, email,
and national dial-up internet access.
We
currently offer several internet
access rate plans tailored to the needs of small business, home office and
residential consumers. Our service plans are designed to provide our
customers the lowest possible rates while maintaining the service quality level
they require. Our broadband services feature synchronous internet
access, which is critical to providing a satisfying internet experience when
visiting newer “Web 2.0” sites. Social networking experiences found
with sites such as Myspace and Facebook benefit greatly from fast upload speeds,
which are generally unavailable from the incumbent carriers. In
addition, we offer our customers a variety of additional services, including
web
hosting and email. All of our broadband customers also receive a free
dial-up account for use when away from home.
Rapid
Link VoIP
Services
Rapid
Link provides an Internet-based
communication
service that works over virtually any high-speed Internet connection in the
world. Our service allows our customers to call to and/or from any
phone in the world. Rapid Link VoIP is a perfect complement to our
broadband access service. When used together, we are able to more
closely control quality, by keeping calls on our own network as long as possible
and avoiding the public internet as much as possible.
Wholesale
Voice
Termination
We
offer call completion on a wholesale
basis to domestic and international telecommunications
companies. This service enables our carrier customers to benefit from
our VoIP and TDM voice network expertise without having to establish dozens
of
new relationships with smaller providers. Our extensive experience
and exiting relationships with voice service providers, allow us to offer
reliable service to select destinations around the world at very competitive
prices.
Legacy
Products
These
services, while still contributing
a significant portion of our revenues, will continue to decrease as a percentage
of our total revenues as we continue to develop and market new
services.
International
Re-origination
Services
We
provide a variety of international
Re-origination services. Our “Dial Thru” service allows customers the
convenience of making local and/or international calls in the same manner as
traditional long distance dialing. In markets where we cannot
currently provide Dial Thru service, we offer our Re-origination service, which
allows a caller outside of the United States to place a long distance telephone
call that appears to have originated from our US-based switch to the customer's
location, and then connects the call through our network to anywhere in the
world. By completing the calls in this manner, we are able to provide
very competitive rates to the customer. Generally, the Dial Thru and
Re-origination services are provided to customers that establish deposits or
prepayments with us.
International
Calling
Cards
Our
“Global
Roaming” service provides
customers a single account number to initiate phone-to-phone calls from
locations throughout the world using specific toll-free access
numbers. This service enables customers to receive the cost benefits
associated with our telecommunications network throughout the
world.
1+
Long Distance
We
also offer traditional 1+ long
distance service to business and residential users throughout the U.S. We
currently focus on SMEs
through the agent channel, as well as our niche markets, which generally have
a
large amount of international calling. By leveraging our
long-standing international carrier relationships, we can provide low rates
and
excellent service when calling to countries that are not aggressively priced
by
the larger carriers.
Segment
Information
Management
regularly reviews one set of
financial information and all of our products share similar economic
characteristics. Therefore, the Company has determined that it has
one operating segment.
Recent
Acquisitions
On
October 31, 2007, the Company
acquired 100% of the assets of Communications Advantage, LLC (“Communications
Advantage”), and Web-Breeze Networks, LLC (“Web Breeze”). The assets
include a sizable wireless broadband network in a rural geographic area of
California that
fits into the Company’s niche
market business model, a base of customers and revenues that are immediately
accretive to our revenues and earnings, and a staff of tenured professionals
with vast knowledge and experience in the wireless broadband
sector.
On
May 5, 2006, the Company acquired
100% of the outstanding stock of Telenational Communications, Inc.
(“Telenational”). Telenational historically
serviced a
sizable base of both retail and commercial customers which very closely mirror
those customers Rapid Link has served. This acquisition allows us to
expand our market share
in
the telecommunications industry while taking advantage of several
significant
economies of scale, both in respect to direct cost reductions, as well as
operational efficiencies. We have subsequently
moved
substantially all of our operational and administrative functions to the
Telenational headquarters in Omaha,
Nebraska.
In
October 2005, the Company completed
the acquisition of the customer base of Integrated Telecommunications, Inc.,
an
international long distance carrier providing VoIP services to retail customers
in the United States
and
wholesale services to
customers worldwide.
Competition
The
“Diversified Communication Services” industry is highly competitive, rapidly
evolving, and subject to constant technological change. Other
providers currently offer one or more of each of the services offered by
us. Communications service companies compete for consumers based on
price and quality, with the dominant providers conducting extensive advertising
campaigns to capture market share. As a service provider in Broadband
Internet industry, we compete with dominant players such as Comcast Corp.
(CMCSA), AT&T (T), all of which are substantially larger than us and have
the resources, history and customer bases to dominate virtually every segment
of
the broadband internet market. As a service provider in the VoIP
telecommunications industry, we compete with such dominant providers as Skype
and Vonage (VG), which are substantially larger than us and have greater
resources, history and customer bases, and who may market services in areas
and
regions which may closely mirror ours.
We
also
compete with other smaller companies including Towerstream Corp. (TWER), and
KeyOn Communications Holdings, Inc (KEYO). We also believe that
existing competitors are likely to continue to expand their service offerings
to
appeal to retailers and consumers especially in the area of wireless broadband
internet service.
The
market for international voice completion services is also highly
competitive. We compete both in the market for enhanced Internet
communications services and in the market for carrier transmission
services. We believe that the primary competitive factors in the
Internet and VoIP communications business are quality of service, price,
convenience, and bandwidth. We believe that the ability to offer
enhanced service capabilities, including new services, will become an
increasingly important competitive factor in the near future.
Wireless
Broadband Internet Service
Providers
During
the past several years, a number
of companies have introduced services that make Wireless Broadband Internet
and
Internet voice services available to businesses and
consumers. Towerstream Corporation and KeyOn Communications Holdings,
Inc. offers wireless broadband internet and divisions of Net2Phone Inc. and
Deltathree.com
route traffic to
destinations worldwide, and compete directly with us. Other Internet
telephony service providers focus on a retail customer base and may in the
future compete with us. These companies offer the kinds of voice
services we are currently offering. In addition, companies currently
in related markets are providing wireless broadband internet and VoIP services,
or adapt their products to enable voice over the Internet
services. Many of these companies have migrated into the wireless
broadband and Internet telephony market as direct
competitors.
Suppliers
Our
principal suppliers consist of
domestic and international telecommunications carriers, Internet
Service
Providers,
and Broadband suppliers. Relationships currently
exist with a number of reliable carriers. During the fiscal year
ended October 31, 2007, three of the Company's suppliers accounted for
approximately 31%, 22%, and 12% of the Company's total costs of
revenues. Due to the highly competitive nature of the
telecommunications business, we believe that the loss of any carrier would
not
have a long-term material impact on our business.
Sales
and Marketing
We
sell and market our services through
vertical web portals, magazines, local military base events, and third-party
resellers. Our Company also receives a good deal of referrals from
existing customers. Our revenues are primarily derived from direct
sales to business and residential accounts, sales through commissioned agents
and wholesale sales to other telecommunications providers. We plan to
focus our sales efforts on expanding niche markets, as well as add products
and
services targeting residential customers in these niche
areas.
We
offer businesses and individuals
the opportunity to become
resellers of our services through our affiliate and reseller
programs. Resellers are able to purchase bulk accounts and hardware
at reseller specific pricing and they are then able to resell these accounts
to
private individuals under the Rapid Link brand.
We
have substantial revenues in foreign
markets. For the fiscal years ended October 31, 2007 and 2006, $6.4
million or 37% and $4.4 million or 33% of our total revenue from continuing
operations for each year, respectively, originated from foreign
markets.
Customers
We
focus our current retail sales and
marketing efforts on our Wireless Broadband Internet products and services,
targeting residential customers and SMEs. We rely heavily on the use
of local advertising to generate retail sales in markets where we offer our
Broadband service. Additionally, we
utilize agent sales channels to
generate revenues. By doing so, we believe that we establish a wide
base of customers with little vulnerability based on lack of customer
loyalty. Our wholesale customers are primarily large
telecommunications customers in the United States,
and medium to large foreign Postal,
Telephone and Telegraph companies, which are those entities responsible for
providing telecommunications services in foreign markets and are usually
government owned or controlled.
During
the fiscal year ended October 31,
2007, we did not provide wholesale services to any customer that accounted
for
more than 10% of our revenue. During the fiscal year ended October
31, 2006, we provided wholesale services to a customer who accounted for 12%
of
our revenues, and to another customer who accounted for 10% of
revenues. We believe the loss of any individual customer would not
materially impact our business. We generally do business with
approximately 25 wholesale customers, any of which either collectively, or
in
most cases individually, could compensate for the loss of a major
customer. Typically, we have limited capacity, imposed by our
suppliers, in which to transmit our telecommunications traffic. We
frequently offer this capacity to our larger customers, however it is possible
to offer these opportunities to all or a few of our wholesale customers at
any
time, thus reducing our reliance on any one customer and providing a relatively
quick transition between customers if we should lose a
customer.
Employees
As
of December 26, 2007, we have
twenty-eight full-time
employees, nine of
which perform administrative and
financial functions, fourteen of
which perform customer support
duties, and thirteen
of
which have experience in
telecommunications operations and/or sales. Seventeen employees are
located in Omaha,
Nebraska,
seven employees are located in
California,
and one employee is located in
Colorado. None
of our employees is
represented by a labor union, and we consider our employee relations to be
good.
Debt
Restructurings
On
October 31, 2007, the Company entered
into a series of agreements, which modified its debt structure with Global
Capital Funding Group Ltd. ("Global"), and with GCA Strategic Investment Fund
Limited ("GCA"). The agreements call for two outstanding notes due in
November of 2007 payable to Global and GCA to be extended to October 31,
2009. There were no other
material changes to the terms of the existing notes. The Company
issued 50,000 warrant options to purchase common stock to Global and GCA in
consideration for the extensions.
On
October 31, 2007, the Company entered
into an agreement, which modified its debt structure with Apex Acquisitions,
Inc. ("Apex”). The agreement calls for
the outstanding note due in November of 2007 payable to Apex to be extended
to
November 1,
2009. The note was also
modified to allow for the balance to be convertible to common stock at market
pricing. The Company
President and Chief Financial
Officer is the majority stockholder of Apex.
On
October 31, 2007, the Company entered
into an agreement, which modified its debt structure with the Company’s Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer, John Jenkins. The
agreement calls for the
outstanding note due in February of 2008 payable to John Jenkins to
be extended to November 1,
2009. There were no other
material changes to
the
existing
note.
Intellectual
Property
We
do not hold any patents or
trademarks. Our products and services are available to other
telecommunications companies.
Government
Regulation
Telecommunications
services are subject
to extensive government regulation at both the federal and state levels in
the
United States. Any
violations of these
regulations may subject us to enforcement penalties. The Federal
Communications Commission ("FCC") has jurisdiction over all telecommunications
common carriers to the extent they provide interstate or international
communications services, including the use of local networks to originate or
terminate such services. Each state regulatory commission has jurisdiction
over
the same carriers with respect to their provision of local and intrastate long
distance communications services. Significant changes to the applicable laws
or
regulations imposed by any of these regulators could have a material adverse
effect on our business, operating results and financial
condition.
The
following summary of regulatory
developments and legislation is intended to describe what we believe to be
the
most important, currently effective and proposed international, federal, state,
and local regulations and legislation that are likely to materially affect
us. Some of these and other existing federal and state regulations
are the subject of judicial proceedings and legislative and administrative
proposals that could change, in varying degrees, the manner in which this
industry operates. We cannot predict the outcome of any of these
proceedings or their impact on the telecommunications industry or us at this
time. Some of these future legislative, regulatory, or judicial
changes could have a material adverse impact on our
business.
Regulation
by the Federal Communications
Commission - Universal
Service
Funds
In
1997, the FCC issued an order,
referred to as the Universal Service Order, to implement the provisions of
the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 relating to the preservation and advancement
of
universal telephone service. The Universal Service Order requires all
telecommunications carriers providing interstate telecommunications services
to
periodically contribute to universal service support programs administered
by
the FCC (the "Universal Service Funds"). The periodic contribution requirements
to the Universal Service Funds under the Universal Service Order are currently
assessed based on a percentage of each contributor's interstate and
international end user telecommunications revenues reported to the FCC, which
we
measure and report in accordance with the legislative rules adopted by the
FCC. The contribution rate factors are determined quarterly and
carriers, including us, are billed for their contribution requirements each
month based on projected interstate and international end-user
telecommunications revenues, subject to periodic reconciliation. We,
and most of our competitors, pass through these Universal Service Fund
contributions in the price of our services, either as a separate surcharge
or as
part of the base rate. In addition to the FCC universal service
support mechanisms, state regulatory agencies also operate parallel universal
service support systems. As a result, we are subject to state, as
well as federal, universal service support contribution requirements, which
vary
from state to state. As with any regulatory obligation, if a federal
or state regulatory body determines that we have incorrectly calculated and/or
remitted any universal service fund contribution, we could be subject to the
assessment and collection of past due remittances as well as interest and
penalties thereon. Furthermore, if the FCC determines that we have
incorrectly calculated and overstated a separately invoiced line item identified
as a recovery of contributions to the Universal Service Funds we could be
required to repay any such over-collection and be subject to
penalty.
The
FCC is currently considering several
proposals that would fundamentally alter the basis upon which our Universal
Service Fund contributions are determined and the means by which such
contributions may be recovered from our customers, changing from a revenue
percentage measurement to a connection (capacity), or telephone number (access)
measurement. Because we pass through these contributions to
consumers, a change in the contribution methodology would not directly affect
our net revenues; however, a change in how contributions are assessed might
affect our customers differently than the customers of competing services,
and
therefore could either increase or decrease the attractiveness of our
services. The timing and effect of any FCC action on this proposal is
not yet known.
Access
Charges
As
a long distance provider, we remit
access fees directly to local exchange carriers or indirectly to our underlying
long distance carriers for the origination and termination of our long distance
telecommunications traffic. Generally, intrastate
access charges are higher than
interstate access
charges. Therefore, to
the degree access charges increase or a greater percentage of our long distance
traffic is intrastate, our costs of providing long distance services will
increase.
In
April 2001, the FCC released a Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking in which it proposed a "fundamental re-examination of
all
currently regulated forms of intercarrier compensation.” Several
different industry groups have submitted access charge reform proposals to
the
FCC. The FCC has not yet acted on these proposals and it is not yet
known when it will act. Therefore, at this time we cannot predict the
effect that the FCC's ultimate determinations regarding access charge reform
may
have upon our business.
Taxes
and Regulatory
Fees
We
are subject to numerous local, state,
and federal taxes and regulatory fees, including, but not limited to, the
Federal excise tax, FCC universal service fund contributions and regulatory
fees, and numerous public utility commission regulatory fees. We have
procedures in place to ensure that we properly collect taxes and fees from
our
customers and remit such taxes and fees to the appropriate entity pursuant
to
applicable law and/or regulation. If our collection procedures prove
to be insufficient or if a taxing or regulatory authority determines that our
remittances were inadequate, we could be required to make additional payments,
which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
International
Telecommunications
Services - Section 214. In the United States, to the extent that we
offer services as a carrier, we are required to obtain authority under Section
214 of the Communications Act of 1934 to provide telecommunications service
that
originates within the United States and terminates outside the United
States. We have obtained the required Section 214 authorization from
the FCC to provide U.S.
international
service. As a condition to our Section 214 authorization, we are
subject to various communications-oriented reporting and filing
requirements. Failure to comply with the FCC's rules could result in
fines, penalties, forfeitures, or revocation of our FCC authorization, each
of
which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition,
and results of operation.
International
Telecommunications
Services - International Settlements
The
FCC's International Settlements
Policy ("Policy") restricts the terms on which U.S.-based carriers and certain
of their foreign correspondents settle the cost of terminating each other's
traffic over their respective networks. Under the International
Settlements Policy, absent approval from the FCC, international
telecommunications service agreements with dominant foreign carriers must be
non-discriminatory, provide for settlement rates usually equal to one-half
of
the accounting rate, and require proportionate share of return
traffic. This Policy, however, does not apply to arrangements with
any non-dominant foreign carrier or, since March 30, 2005, with any dominant
foreign carrier on routes where a demonstration has been made that at least
one
U.S. carrier
has a settlement arrangement
with the dominant foreign carrier that is compliant with the FCC's applicable
benchmark settlement rates. This action has greatly lessened the number of
instances in which the Policy applies, effectively granting U.S. and
foreign carriers greater freedom to
set rates and terms in their agreements. As a result, 164 countries
currently are exempt from the International Settlements Policy, representing
over 90% of all U.S.-originated international
traffic. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the FCC could find that we do
not meet certain International Settlements Policy requirements with respect
to
certain of our foreign carrier agreements. Although the FCC generally
has not issued penalties in this area, it has issued a Notice of Apparent
Liability to a U.S. company for violations of the International Settlements
Policy and it could, among other things, issue a cease and desist order, impose
fines or allow the collection of damages if it finds that we are not in
compliance with the International Settlements Policy. Any of these
events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial
condition, or results of operation.
State
Regulations
Our
intrastate long distance operations
are subject to various state laws and regulations, including, in most
jurisdictions, certification, and tariff filing requirements. As a
certificated carrier, consumers may file complaints against us at the public
service commissions. Certificates of authority can generally be
conditioned, modified, canceled, terminated, or revoked by state regulatory
authorities for failure to comply with state law and/or the rules, regulations
and policies of the state regulatory authorities. Fines and other
penalties also may be imposed for such violations. Public service
commissions also regulate access charges and other pricing for
telecommunications services within each state. The Regional Bell
Operating Companies and other local exchange carriers have been seeking
reduction of state regulatory requirements, including greater pricing
flexibility, which, if granted, could subject us to increased price
competition.
Regulation
of Internet Telephony and
Other IP-Enabled Services
The
use of the Internet to provide
telephone service is a fairly recent market development. At present,
we are not aware of any domestic, and are aware of only a few foreign, laws
or
regulations that prohibit voice communications over the
Internet.
United
States
We
believe that, under U.S. law,
the Internet-related services that
we provide constitute information services as opposed to regulated
telecommunications services and, as such, are not currently actively regulated
by the FCC or any state agencies charged with regulating telecommunications
carriers. We cannot provide assurances that our Internet-related
services will not be actively regulated in the future. Several
efforts have been made in the U.S. to
enact federal legislation that would
either regulate or exempt from regulation services provided over the
Internet. Increased regulation of the Internet may slow its growth,
particularly if other countries also impose regulations. Such
regulation may negatively impact the cost of doing business over the Internet
and materially adversely affect our business, operating results, financial
condition and future prospects.
The
advent of VoIP services being
provided by pure play VoIP providers, such as Vonage, cable television and
other
companies, and the increased number of traditional telephone companies entering
the retail VoIP space has heightened the need for U.S. regulators to determine
whether VoIP is subject to the same regulatory and financial constraints as
wire
line telephone service. On November 9, 2004, the FCC issued an order in response
to a petition from Vonage declaring that Vonage-style VoIP services were exempt
from state telecommunications regulations. The FCC order applies to all VoIP
offerings provided over broadband services. However, this order did not clarify
whether, or under what terms, VoIP traffic may be subject to intercarrier
compensation requirements; whether VoIP was subject to state tax or commercial
business regulations; or whether VoIP providers had to comply with obligations
related to 911 emergency calls, and the Universal Service Fund ("USF") of the
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ("CALEA"). The FCC
is addressing many of these issues through its "IP-Enabled Services Proceeding,”
which opened in February 2004.
Due
to perceived urgency, however, the
FCC did take some specific actions outside of the broad IP-Enabled Services
Proceeding to address emergency services and law enforcement
issues. On June 3, 2005, the FCC issued an order establishing rules
requiring interconnected VoIP service providers to incorporate 911 emergency
call capabilities for their customers as a standard feature of their services,
rather than an optional enhancement. And, on August 5, 2005, the FCC
announced the extension of CALEA to certain types of VoIP
providers. Any additional regulation of IP-based services concerns us
and we must therefore remain diligent with respect to evaluating the impact
of
FCC proposals and decisions. However, based on the nature of the
IP-enabled services we currently provide, we do not believe either FCC decision
will materially adversely affect our business, operating results, financial
condition, or future prospects.
The
FCC has also considered whether to
impose surcharges or other common carrier regulations upon certain providers
of
VoIP or Internet telephony. While the FCC has presently refrained
from such regulation, the regulatory classification of Internet telephony
remains unresolved. If the FCC were to determine that certain
Internet-related services including Internet telephony services are subject
to
FCC regulations as telecommunications services, the FCC could subject providers
of such services to traditional common carrier regulation, including
requirements to make universal service contributions, and pay access charges
to
local telephone companies. A decision to impose such charges
could also have a
retroactive effect,
which
could materially adversely affect
us. It is also possible that the FCC will adopt a regulatory
framework other than traditional common carrier regulation that would apply
to
Internet telephony providers. Any such determinations could
materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results
and future prospects to the extent that any such determinations negatively
affect the cost of doing business over the Internet or otherwise slow the growth
of the Internet. Congressional dissatisfaction with FCC conclusions
could result in requirements that the FCC impose greater or lesser regulation,
which in turn could materially adversely affect our business, financial
condition, operating results and future prospects.
States
State
regulatory authorities may also
retain jurisdiction to regulate certain aspects of the provision of intrastate
Internet telephony services. Several state regulatory authorities
have initiated proceedings to examine the regulation of such
services. Others could initiate proceedings to do
so.
International
The
regulatory treatment of Internet
telephony outside of the U.S. varies
widely from country to
country. A number of countries that currently prohibit competition in
the provision of voice telephony also prohibit Internet
telephony. Other countries permit but regulate Internet
telephony. Some countries will evaluate proposed Internet telephony
service on a case-by-case basis and determine whether it should be regulated
as
a voice service or as another telecommunications service. Finally, in
many countries, Internet telephony has not yet been addressed by legislation
or
regulation. Increased regulation of the Internet and/or Internet
telephony providers or the prohibition of Internet telephony in one or more
countries could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition,
operating results and future prospects.
Other
General
Regulations
Although
we do not know of any other
specific new or proposed regulations that will affect our business directly,
the
regulatory scheme for competitive telecommunications market is still evolving,
and there could be unanticipated changes in the competitive environment for
communications in general. For example, the FCC is currently
considering rules that govern how Internet providers share telephone lines
with
local telephone companies and compensate local telephone
companies. These rules could affect the role that the Internet
ultimately plays in the telecommunications market.
Risk
Factors
Our
cash flow may not be sufficient to
satisfy our cost of operations. If not, we must obtain equity or debt
instruments.
For
the fiscal years ended October 31,
2007 and 2006, we recorded net losses from continuing operations of
approximately $2 million and $1.1 million, respectively, on revenues from
continuing operations of approximately $17.3 million and $13.4 million,
respectively. For fiscal year 2007,
our net loss from
continuing operations included approximately $2 million in non-cash expenses,
primarily depreciation expense and non-cash interest expense. In
addition, we generated approximately $659,000 of positive cash flow from
operations during fiscal year 2007. As a result of historical losses,
we currently have a substantial working capital deficit. To
be able to service our debt
obligations over the course of the 2008 fiscal year, we must generate
significant cash flow through additional
financing or an equity infusion. If
we are unable to do so or are
otherwise unable to obtain funds necessary to make required payments on our
trade debt and other indebtedness, our ability to continue
operations may
be jeopardized.
Our
independent auditors have included a
going concern paragraph in their audit opinion on our consolidated financial
statements for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2007, which states “The Company
has suffered recurring losses from continuing operations during each of the
last
two fiscal years. Additionally, at October 31, 2007, the Company's
current liabilities exceeded its current assets by $.4
million and the Company had a
shareholders' deficit totaling $2.8 million. Although our financial
condition is
improving, particularly from a cash flow perspective, these conditions raise
doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going
concern.
Our
operating history makes it difficult
to accurately assess our general prospects in the broadband wireless internet
sector of the Diversified Communications Service industry and the effectiveness
of our business strategy. As of the date of this report, most of our
revenues are not derived from broadband internet services. Instead,
we generated most of our revenues from retail fixed-line and wholesale
communication services. In addition, we have limited meaningful
historical financial data upon which to forecast our future sales and operating
expenses. Our future performance will also be subject to prevailing
economic conditions and to financial, business and other
factors. Accordingly, we cannot assure that we will successfully
implement our business strategy or that our actual future cash flows from
operations will be sufficient to satisfy our debt obligations and working
capital needs.
To
implement our business strategy, we
will need an additional equity infusion. There is no assurance that
adequate levels of additional equity or financing will be available at all
or on
acceptable terms. If we are unable to obtain additional equity or
financing on terms that are acceptable to us, we could be forced to dispose
of
assets to make up for any shortfall in the payments due on our debt under
circumstances that might not be favorable to realizing the highest price for
those assets. A portion of our assets consist of intangible assets,
the value of which will depend upon a variety of factors, including the success
of our business. As a result, if we do need to sell any of our assets, we cannot
assure that our assets could be sold quickly enough, or for amounts sufficient,
to meet our obligations.
Potential
for substantial dilution to
our existing stockholders exists.
The
issuance of shares of common stock
upon conversion of secured convertible notes or upon exercise of outstanding
warrants and/or stock options may cause immediate and substantial dilution
to
our existing stockholders. In addition, any additional financing may
result in significant dilution to our existing stockholders.
We
face competition from numerous,
mostly well-capitalized sources.
The
market for our products and services
is highly competitive. We face competition from multiple sources,
many of which have greater financial resources and a substantial presence in
our
markets and offer products or services similar to our
services. Therefore, we may not be able to successfully compete in
our markets, which could result in a failure to implement our business strategy,
adversely affecting our ability to attract and retain new
customers. In addition, competition within the industries in which we
operate is characterized by, among other factors, price, and the ability to
offer enhanced services. Significant price competition would reduce
the margins realized by us in our telecommunications operations. Many
of our competitors have greater financial resources to devote to research,
development, and marketing, and may be able to respond more quickly to new
or
merging technologies and changes in customer requirements.
We
have pledged our assets to existing
creditors.
Our
secured convertible notes are
secured by a lien on substantially all of our assets. A default by us
under the secured convertible notes would enable the holders of the notes to
take control of substantially all of our assets. The holders of the
secured convertible notes have no operating experience in our industry and
if we
were to default and the note holders were to take over control of our Company,
they could force us to substantially curtail or cease our
operations. If this happens, you could lose your entire investment in
our common stock.
In
addition, the existence of our asset
pledges to the holders of the secured convertible notes will make it more
difficult for us to obtain additional financing required to repay monies
borrowed by us, continue our business operations, and pursue our growth
strategy.
The
regulatory environment in our
industry is very uncertain.
The
legal
and regulatory environment pertaining to the Internet and Diversified
Communication Services industry is uncertain and changing rapidly as the use
of
the Internet increases. For example, in the United States, the FCC
had been considering whether to impose surcharges or additional regulations
upon
certain providers of Internet telephony, and indeed the FCC has confirmed that
providers must begin charging Universal Service access charges of roughly
6.5%.
In
addition, the regulatory treatment of Internet telephony outside of the United
States varies from country to country. There can be no assurance that
there will not be legally imposed interruptions in Internet telephony in these
and other foreign countries. Interruptions or restrictions on the
provision of Internet telephony in foreign countries may adversely affect our
ability to continue to offer services in those countries, resulting in a loss
of
customers and revenues.
New
regulations could increase the cost
of doing business over the Internet or restrict or prohibit the delivery of
our
products or services using the Internet. In addition to new regulations being
adopted, existing laws may be applied to the Internet. Newly enacted
laws may cover issues that include sales and other taxes, access charges, user
privacy, pricing controls, characteristics and quality of products and services,
consumer protection, contributions to the Universal Service Fund, an
FCC-administered fund for the support of local telephone service in rural and
high-cost areas, cross-border commerce, copyright, trademark and patent
infringement, and other claims based on the nature and content of Internet
materials.
Changes
in the technology relating to Broadband Wireless Internet could threaten our
operations.
The
industries in which we compete are
characterized, in part, by rapid growth, evolving industry standards,
significant technological changes, and frequent product
enhancements. These characteristics could render existing systems and
strategies obsolete and require us to continue to develop and implement new
products and services, anticipate changing consumer demands and respond to
emerging industry standards and technological changes. No assurance
can be given that we will be able to keep pace with the rapidly changing
consumer demands, technological trends, and evolving industry
standards.
We
need to develop and maintain
strategic relationships around the world to be successful.
Our
international business, in part, is
dependent upon relationships with distributors, governments, or providers of
telecommunications services in foreign markets. The failure to
develop or maintain these relationships could have an adverse impact on our
business.
We
rely on three key senior
executives.
We
rely heavily on our senior management
team of John
Jenkins, Christopher
Canfield and Michael Prachar, and our future success may depend, in large part,
upon our ability to retain our senior executives. In addition to the
industry experience and technical expertise they provide to the Company, senior
management has been the source of significant amounts of funding that have
helped to allow us to meet our financial obligations.
Any
natural disaster or other occurrence
that renders our operations center inoperable could significantly hinder the
delivery of our services to our customers because we lack an off-site back-up
communications system.
Currently,
our disaster recovery systems
focus on internal redundancy and diverse routing within our operations
center. We currently do not have an off-site communications system
that would enable us to continue to provide communications services to our
customers in the event of a natural disaster, terrorist attack or other
occurrence that rendered our operations center
inoperable. Accordingly, our business is subject to the risk that
such a disaster or other occurrence could hinder or prevent us from providing
services to some or all of our customers. The delay in the delivery
of our services could cause some of our customers to discontinue business with
us, which could have a material adverse effect financial condition, and results
of operations.
We
may be unable to manage our
growth.
We
intend to expand our Wireless
Broadband Internet network and the range of enhanced communication services
that
we provide. Our expansion prospects must be considered in light of
the risks, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in
new
and rapidly evolving markets. Our revenues will suffer if we are
unable to manage this expansion properly.
Our
OTC Bulletin Board listing
negatively affects the liquidity of our common stock as compared with other
trading boards.
Our
common stock currently trades on the
OTC Bulletin Board. Therefore, no assurances can be given that a
liquid trading market will exist at the time any stockholder desires to dispose
of any shares of our common stock. In addition, our common stock is
subject to the so-called "penny stock" rules that impose additional sales
practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell such securities to persons
other than established customers and accredited investors (generally defined
as
an investor with a net worth in excess of $1 million or annual income exceeding
$200,000, or $300,000 together with a spouse). For transactions
covered by the penny stock rules, a broker-dealer must make a suitability
determination for the purchaser and must have received the purchaser's written
consent to the transaction prior to sale. Consequently, both the
ability of a broker-dealer to sell our common stock and the ability of holders
of our common stock to sell their securities in the secondary market may be
adversely affected. The Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“SEC”) has adopted regulations that define a "penny stock" to be an equity
security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to
certain exceptions. For any transaction involving a penny stock,
unless exempt, the rules require the delivery, prior to the transaction, of
a
disclosure schedule relating to the penny stock market. The
broker-dealer must disclose the commissions payable to both the broker-dealer
and the registered representative, current quotations for the securities and,
if
the broker-dealer is to sell the securities as a market maker, the broker-dealer
must disclose this fact and the broker-dealer's presumed control over the
market. Finally, monthly statements must be sent disclosing recent
price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on
the
limited market in penny stocks.
Our
executive officers, directors and major shareholders have significant
shareholdings, which may lead to conflicts with other shareholders over
corporate governance matters.
Our
current directors, officers and more than 5% shareholders, as a group,
beneficially own approximately 75% of our outstanding common
stock. Acting together, these shareholders would be able to
significantly influence all matters that our shareholders vote upon, including
the election of directors and mergers or other business
combinations. As a result, they have the ability to control our
affairs and business, including the election of directors and subject to certain
limitations, approval or preclusion of fundamental corporate
transactions. This concentration of ownership of our common stock may
delay or prevent a change in the control, impede a merger, consolidation,
takeover or other transaction involving us, or discourage a potential acquirer
from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our
Company.
We
will be subject to the requirements of section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
If
we are unable to timely comply with section 404 or if the costs related to
compliance are significant, our profitability, stock price and results of
operations and financial condition could be materially adversely
affected.
We
will
be required to comply with the provisions of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002, which requires that we document and test our internal controls
and
certify that we are responsible for maintaining an adequate system of internal
control procedures. This section also requires that our independent
registered public accounting firm opine on those internal controls and
management’s assessment of those controls. We are currently
evaluating our existing controls against the standards adopted by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. During the
course of our ongoing evaluation and integration of the internal controls of
our
business, we may identify areas requiring improvement, and we may have to design
enhanced processes and controls to address issues identified through this
review.
We
intend to implement the requisite
changes to become compliant with existing and new requirements that apply to
our
Company.
We
believe that the out-of-pocket costs, the diversion of management’s attention
from running the day-to-day operations and operational changes caused by the
need to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
could be significant. If the time and costs associated with such
compliance exceed our current expectations, our results of operations could
be
adversely affected. We cannot be certain at this time that we will be
able to successfully complete the procedures, certification and attestation
requirements of Section 404 or that our auditors will not have to report a
material weakness in connection with the presentation of our financial
statements. If we fail to comply with the requirements of Section 404
or if our auditors report such material weakness, the accuracy and timeliness
of
the filing of our annual report may be materially adversely affected and could
cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which
could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common
stock. In addition, a material weakness in the effectiveness of our
internal controls over financial reporting could result in an increased chance
of fraud and the loss of customers, reduce our ability to obtain financing
and
require additional expenditures to comply with these requirements, each of
which
could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations
and
financial condition.
Item
2. Description of
Property.
We
lease approximately 11,500 square
feet in Omaha,
Nebraska,
located at 5408 N. 99thStreet. Our
operations, information